Discussions By Condition: Medical Stories

Skin, Glucose, Joints, Back, Excessive Hunger, and more

:confused:Have had lots of health concerns, but it seems the Veterans Administration isn't willing to fix much, or compensate for the crhonic health problems. Not sure why, unless it is because of expense. It started a long time ago, back when I was on active duty with a scaley skin patch in my ear canal. It sort of stayed under control, and the Air Force Hospital doctors noticed I had dry skin. I also tended to get rashes a lot when I wore underwear or athletic devices for sport activities. I also seemed to have more problems with rashes when I wore mix fibre clothing, and these days it is hard to get 100% natural fibre clothing. As the years passed I was told I had a hypoglycemic problem with glucose levels, suggesting an auto immune weakness. Sort of figures if you have early stage Psoriasis and are prone to dry skin and rashes. To make matters worse, I was told all my aches and spasms could be fixed by NSAIDS, but if you have Psoriasis you aren't suppose to take NSAIDS. I suppose the Air Force doctors didn't know that and I have taken a lot of Ibuprofen over the years.

For the low glucose levels I was told to eat more starchy foods, snacks and the like, but for odd bumps and rashes I was given steriods. A bad set of solutions for a guy gaining weight and still having lots of muscle cramps and spasms. The Air Force has weight management standards, and I was starting to reach the upper limits while trying to control excessive hunger and low blood glucose problems. Needless to say I tended to feel tired a lot, and sleeping more didn't seem to help much most of the time. Then I started having joint pain in my knees. Now they tell me I am type 2 diabetic and have arthritis. The catch is the VA doesn't want to compensate for either because they didn't find the words arthritis or diabetic in my medical records while on active duty. What was provided was the symptoms, but not a conclusion, or treatment. It seems if the Air Force doctors don't conclude what the symptoms point to, compensation for the problem isn't required by law after retirement.

What this means is I probably have something else wrong also, but will have to pay for medications and someone outside the government medical system to figure out what the problems are. At some point in the future I will die of complications related to the old problems, but my wife cannot get a pension because the VA won't pay for anything not compensated for 10 years before death. I may not have 10 years left. So, what really seems to be the problem is how does a retired veteran get the VA to agree the symptoms did point towards this or that, and avoiding a conclusion is wrong? The VA compensation folk don't express any responsibility towards getting a doctor or two to conclude what the symptoms were pointing to. Kind of sucks a guy can spend his life thinking if he goes the whole danger thing for the protection of the nation with promises of care, but in the end is left in a catch-22 and paying for his own medical care. Just more broken promises I suppose.:mad: